A Teacher Journal #1: Connectedness

After many years of saying "someday," I'm finally enrolled in an Educational Technology Master's Program. My current course requires me to keep a journal to document "connectedness." Below is my first entry. 

We've been challenged this week to expand our online connections. Already an avid Twitter teacher, I've chosen to focus on three other social networks. I have joined these three in the past, but I feel I have underutilized as opportunities for connection.

1. Instagram

I joined Instagram awhile back and have heard great things from teachers about using it. However, I never really used it much. I've started by looking through teachers I already follow and seeing teachers who they follow. One that I especially admire is Brittney Root (aka @miss5th). Here's an example of a heart-warming idea that she posted that would work well in my classroom.

A post shared by Brittney Root (@miss5th) on Apr 20, 2018 at 3:52pm PDT

2. Facebook: California Middle School Science Teachers Group

I joined this group awhile back but have not really been much into following what is posted. I grew a little tired of Facebook in general and don't use it much. Looking through their discussions, there's really great ideas and support on it. I think following it more closely will be a benefit. For example, looking through recent posts I saw one about USD Oakland and their stellar NGSS resources. I'd attended some of their workshops a couple of years ago at CSTA conference. Great discussions going on here about NGSS and best practices. There's so much to learn in this group!

3. Pinterest

Jennifer Gonzalez (aka Cult of Pedagogy), Lisa Highfill, and Maria Popova (aka Brain Pickings) are all people I follow in other ways online and find inspirational. I dug around on Pinterest and found them all to be very active on this social network. I also found organizations that I love such as KQED, Edutopia, and Common Sense Education on here. I'm finding it a little hard to view them all. Pinterest is definitely made for hopping around.

Searching through these three networks, I'm reminded of just how much information is out there online. What a great time to be a teacher! Any ideas for people or organizations I should follow? Please let me know in the comments below!

21st Century Learning: Collaboration is Key

Much has been written about 21st Century learning and what tools students will need as they head into the future. Most sources, such as Tony Wagner in Creating Innovators, agree that collaboration is a key skill needed for success. How do we harness technology to help students hone their cooperative skills? Here's an infographic I created to help explain some ideas.

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CATE Conference

Over the weekend, I attended the CATE (California Association of Teachers of English) Conference.  I was amazed at how large a conference it was with so many diverse speakers and learning opportunities. Here's the flyer. Some of my highlights:

• Catlin Tucker's session on creatively connecting curriculum to the Common Core was inspirational. Her approach to learning and teaching is so refreshing. She is always scooping out terrific resources that allow for better teaching practices. For example, myShakespeare.com which allows students to hear his plays voiced by actors along with "interviews" of the characters for deeper understanding. 
• Also, vocabulary.comvocabulary.com which allows teachers to set up word lists based on books or articles and helps students go at their own pace to master new words. Hearing a session from this company and having some time to have her guide me though, helped me see that there is more to this tool. For example, word lists are already created for many novels we read in the sixth grade that could help students build deeper understanding of key terms before they read the books. This may help them understand the material better when they go to read independently. Students love this tool already and its inherently competitive feel.
• EdPuzzle. I'd heard of EdPuzzle before. However, I didn't really have a good grasp of what this online video teaching tool could do. Attending a session on it helped me see how teachers are using it help differentiate (students can play the videos as many times as needed and teachers can insert information to pop up as to vocabulary or background knowledge students may need). Additionally it can sync seamlessly with Google Classroom (which I've been meaning to look into more too. Is it better than Schoology for some tasks? Is it redundant if already using Schoology as a campus?) EdPuzzle though has such potential.

I hope I have the chance to attend again next year!